Shloka 31

Udyoga-parva Adhyāya 34 — Vidura’s Counsel on Deliberation, Speech-Discipline, and Dharmic Kingship

Devanagari script

युधन्वोवाच यां रात्रिमधिविन्ना स्त्री यां चैवाक्षपराजित: । यां च भाराभिततप्ताड़्े दुर्विवक्ता सम तां वसेत्‌,सुधन्वा बोला--सौतवाली स्त्री, जूएमें हारे हुए जुआरी और भार ढोनेसे व्यथित शरीरवाले मनुष्यकी रातमें जो स्थिति होती है, वही स्थिति उलटा न्याय देनेवाले वक्ताकी भी होती है

Transliteration

sudhanvovāca yāṁ rātrim adhivinnā strī yāṁ caivākṣaparājitaḥ | yāṁ ca bhārābhitatapto durvivaktā sama tāṁ vaset ||

Translation

スダンヴァは言った。「辱めを受けて捨てられた女が味わう夜、賽に敗れた博徒が味わう夜、重荷に身を焦がすほど苦しめられた男が味わう夜——不義を語り、裁きをねじ曲げる者が耐える夜もまた、そのようなものだ。」

Word by Word

सुधन्वाSudhanvan (name)

उवाचsaid

याम्which

रात्रिम्night

अधिविन्नाmarried over / superseded (by another wife)

स्त्रीwoman, wife

याम्which

चand

एवindeed, just

अक्ष-पराजितःone defeated at dice

याम्which

चand

भार-अभिततप्ताङ्गःone whose limbs are sore from carrying loads

दुर्विवक्ताa bad/false speaker (one who speaks wrongly)

समाम्same

ताम्that

वसेत्would dwell / would pass (the night)

Speaker

प्रह्माद उवाच

Characters & Entities

Sudhanvan

a wronged woman (adhivinnā strī)

a gambler defeated at dice (akṣaparājita)

a burden-bearer (bhārābhitatapta)

Character Dynamics

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

War Context

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Philosophical Teaching

Political Layer

Geographic Context

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

Unjust speech—especially speech that twists judgment—creates an inner suffering comparable to humiliation, ruin, and bodily torment. The verse warns that ethical failure in advocacy or decision-making is not merely social harm but a personal moral affliction.

What is happening in the narrative?

Sudhanvan uses three vivid analogies (a wronged woman’s anguish, a gambler’s despair after losing, and a porter’s bodily pain) to describe the mental state of a person who argues falsely or gives inverted justice, emphasizing the psychological and moral cost of adharma.